We give native species trees to regenerate a degraded rainforest.

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Q. When Trees are Planted in the Forest, Do They Make Music?

Q. When Trees are Planted in the Forest, Do They Make Music?
A. They do if iGiveTrees raised the money to plant them!

When you contribute by clicking on the photos or orange banners on the right column, you receive downloads of music from recording artists who support this campaign!

Since our beginning, the project has attracted a range of supporting recording artists: Rickie Byars Beckwith (founder of the Agape International Choir), Faith Rivera (Emmy-winning Singer, Songwriter), Daniel Nahmod (Humanity Music Co.) and Nimo (Empty Hands Music) are among them.

Today we’re so pleased to share the news of 500 more trees that have been planted in the Atlantic Rainforest due to our fundraising efforts! These trees were planted at SINAL the inspiring environmental education center I first visited after Rio+20 in 2012.

A group of undergraduates from Harvard were part of the learning journey.

As part of a generous donation made to SINAL thanks to the iGiveTrees Campaign, we were able to plant 500 trees in some of the most degraded lands of our property. This planting was particular special because we were able to obtain saplings from two highly threatened tree species that are nearly extinct – Jussara and Jacaranda Caviuna. Jussara trees have little blue berries, similar to the acai berry, that are edible; however, the tree has been brutely cut down for years for its palm heart, that while delicious, is deadly to the tree. In fact, the tree has become so endangered that it is actually a federal crime to cut down a tree and can land one in jail. Yet somehow, it continues to happen.

The process of planting these trees was quite special as well because of several reasons. Firstly, in our search for the 500 saplings, we took several journeys to different nurseries in the area. Specifically, we discovered that the state water treatment company has reforestation projects throughout the area where they produce saplings. They understand that the forested hills of the Mata Atlantica are what allows the entire city of Rio de Janeiro to have fresh water – therefore, restoring the degraded lands is absolutely essential to them. We visited two different nurseries, each with a different variety of species. Therefore, we were able to maximize the biodiversity of the 500 trees we planted.

Secondly, throughout the process of the tree planting, we were able to include many diverse groups of people to planting. From local community members in the town of Santo Antonio, to international volunteers, to a group of undergraduate Harvard students who came for a learning journey at SINAL, many hands and hearts were part of the planting. It was very touching to see how inspired people were to be able to be part of the planting – there is something very special about getting to plant a tree in the Mata Atlantica. We are very, very grateful for the donation and are honored to have been able to be part of it.

The following is a list of species from the Mata Atlantica that we planted:

Great work team SINAL, we’re looking forward to planting more with you! And I’ll share more about SINAL’s upcoming events in a future post, but wanted to share this fresh news with iGiveTrees supporters right away!

Tax-deductible DONATIONS keep us going – click on an image below to help us grow!

AFFORESTATION TRAINING

Help sponsor the first Brazilian training of a new generation of environmental entrepreneurs in the Miyawaki method of Afforestation, as recommended by Project Drawdown. We’re bringing Shubhendu Sharma from India to teach the method of his mentor, Dr. Akira Miyawaki. This is a replicatable, organic system of intensive soil preparation, planting of successional native species trees in urban areas, that has been tested globally for more than 40 years. And, we’ll offer scholarships to women who want to learn this as a trade.

NATIVE SPECIES TREES – $25

Help sponsor the gift of trees for an urban food forest. We’ll be planting 300 native species trees in each plot, with an emphasis on tropical staple tree crops. These will include Coconut, Jackfruit, Moringa, Avocado, Mango, Papaya, Pitanga, Aurocaria, Fruita de Conde, Jaibuticaba, Banana, Passionflower, Pineapple and many others! This includes the cost of organic soil amendments, digging equipment, mulch and 2 years of maintenance after plantings. Since there's such a diversity of trees being planted, individual costs vary, so this is a fund toward the whole forest plot, not the cost for one tree.

NATIVE TREE SEEDS – $50

Help sponsor the gift of native species tree seeds from this endangered rainforest. We support back country sustainable seed harvesters who supply their local seed banks and nurseries. These are large bags of seeds, not small packets. The size of the bag depends upon the type of seed, but each one holds approximately 1,000 seeds. This is the way we protect biodiversity.